New signs to highlight Danbury's designation as 'Purple Heart City'
by
Zack Murdoch Danbury Newstimes
(Monday, 8/6/18)
DANBURY -- Local volunteers are raising
awareness about Danbury veterans with
three new signs commemorating the city's
designation as a Purple Heart City near
the Danbury War Memorial.
Danbury was named a Purple Heart City in
2016 and is one of only four
municipalities in the state -- until New
Milford joins later this week -- with
the designation to honor service members
wounded in combat or family members of
those killed in action.
The signs carry both the seal of the
city and an image of the iconic award
and will stand at the Memorial Drive and
Lions Way entrances to Rogers Park to
remind residents of veterans' sacrifice.
Few civilians know that Danbury is a
Purple Heart City, let alone that Aug. 7
is Purple Heart Day across the country,
volunteer organizer Lee Teicholz said.
"It's only fitting that these signs be
placed in the vicinity of the war
memorials and the Patrick R. Waldron
Veterans Hall to show our Purple Heart
recipients that we appreciate the
sacrifices that they have made for us,"
Teicholz said.
The signs cap Teicholz's years-long
effort to help highlight veterans in the
city, including the Veterans Walkway of
Honor and two parking spaces dedicated
to Purple Heart recipients at the
Danbury War Memorial and recreation
center. His father won two Purple Heart
medals fighting in Europe in World War
II and his son now serves in the
Connecticut National Guard.
"It's nice and I feel good that I was
able to accomplish it for our veterans,
especially the purple heart veterans,"
he said.
The Danbury War Memorial Association
paid for the $400 signs and executive
director Justin Calitro hopes they help
raise awareness and support for local
veterans.
"Danbury has a large, highly decorated
veteran population, including many
Purple Heart recipients, and appreciates
the sacrifices the Purple Heart
recipients made in defending our
freedoms," Mayor Mark Boughton said. The
city "believes it is important that we
acknowledge them for their courage and
show them the honor and support they
have earned."
New Milford will become the next
Connecticut town to obtain the Purple
Heart City designation at a ceremony at
10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Roger Sherman
Town Hall on Main Street. Clinton,
Coventry and Guilford also have been
designated Purple Heart communities in
addition to Danbury and New Milford.
History
On
December 6, 1935, voters rejected a
proposal to turn the Danbury airport
into an athletic park. The vote was
sparked by complaints of noise generated
by the airport. However, the vote
focused community attention on the
shortage of playgrounds and parks in the
city. The local Lions Club pushed the
previously rejected idea of the City
accepting a donation of 20 acres of
swampy land at the intersection of Main
Street and South Street from Cephas
Rogers. Rogers was a local industrialist
who was hard hit by the Depression. The
donation would be made for forgiveness
of his $6,000 tax debt. The Common
Council accepted the offer, and applied
to the Works Progress Administration for
funds to drain the land and build access
roads and athletic facilities. Two
hundred workers began work in 1937. The
project was finished in mid-1940 at a
cost of about $175,000, $30,000 of which
the City paid. Cephas B. Rogers Park
opened in the spring of 1941.
Over the years, the City acquired
additional acreage to increase the size
of the park.
The Danbury War Memorial was built in
1951 and was designed and built in honor
of the men and women who fought in World
War I and II. Just after World War II
ended, every morning, students at
Danbury High School put their pennies
and nickels in a pot to fund a memorial
to honor those who so recently served
their country.
Information
Contact Info
City of Danbury Veterans Affairs
23 Memorial Dr
Danbury, CT 06810
Email: Lee Teicholz
info@combatwoundedparkingspaces.org
or use our
Contact Us form.
Directions
From New York
Interstate 84 - Exit 5
Straight through stop sign to traffic
light
At light take right onto Main Street
Follow to end
Last light on Main Street straight into
Rogers Park
War Memorial is the first building on
left
From Hartford/New Haven
Interstate 84 - Exit 5
Take right at light onto Main Street
Follow to end
Last light on Main Street straight into
Rogers Park
War Memorial is the first building on
left